Saint Leo University 20th in Coveted Learfield Director’s Cup

Dec 24, 2013

UPDATE (12/24/13): At the conclusion of the
Fall Sports' season, Saint Leo University is ranked 20th overall in
the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, marking the school's
highest-ever ranking at the end of the first semester. This
updated ranking reflects contributions from volleyball and men's
soccer, both making return trips to the NCAA Championships after a
hiatus. The Lions now have totaled 155 points.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Saint Leo University
begins to put the wraps on one of the most successful Fall
Sports’ seasons in the school’s history, the Lions have
used that success to propel themselves into the Top 20 in the
Division II Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings.

Originally earning the 16th spot on the rankings, the Lions
capitalized off of a 26th place result in the men’s cross
country championships and a 33rd place finish on the women’s
side. The combined point totals from the national appearances
gave the Lions a total of 80 points.

Saint Leo does not sponsor women's field hockey, football or
men's water polo and therefore did not register points for those
sports in the rankings.

A far as the remainder of the rankings, eight-time champion
Grand Valley State (MI) increased its lead in the Division II
Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings thanks to a third
place finish in football and ninth place finish in women’s
volleyball. The Lakers finished the fall with 437 total points.

Shippensburg (PA) is in second with 303 points. The Raiders
earned 50 points in women’s volleyball. West Florida remains
in the third spot to end the fall with 282 points. The Argonauts
finished ninth in women’s volleyball. West Texas A&M
moved up to fourth with 276 points after finishing third in
women’s volleyball and fifth in football. Minnesota Duluth
jumped into the fifth spot with 257.5 points thanks to ninth place
finishes in both football and women’s volleyball.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a
joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded
based on each institution's finish in up to 14 sports -- seven
women’s and seven men’s.

About Learfield Sports: In its four decades,
Learfield has developed trusted, long-term relationships with some
of the most revered institutions and associations in the world of
collegiate athletics. Learfield Sports owns the exclusive
multimedia rights to over 50 of the leading college programs in the
country and has prominence in all of the major athletic
conferences. Learfield’s rights encompass all athletic
department media and sponsorships components, including stadium
signage and numerous content distribution platforms. Those
platforms deliver the passion of college athletics over radio,
television and digital networks to fans globally, and
Learfield’s exclusive sports programming reaches more than 56
million television households nationally and delivers nearly 17,000
hours of radio programming on more than 1,100 radio stations. This
marks the sixth consecutive year for the company to title the
prestigious Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup.